Liquid reservoirs such as hot water tanks and like reservoirs typically have a long lifetime measured in years but often fail eventually in a manner that results in the leakage of liquid from within the reservoir. Failures can result from corrosion of the reservoir walls or from failures of the pipe or pipe junctions from conduits leading into or out of the reservoirs. Such reservoirs are often installed within buildings, often inside inhabited buildings, making leaks all the more problematic.
In order to contain potential leaks, fail safe devices have been developed for hot water tanks may be installed that underlie or substantially envelop the bottom portion of a tank. Typically, such fail safe devices need to be installed prior to, or along with, installation of a new hot water tank. In other cases where the fail safe device can be provided on an existing installed hot water tank, the installation of the fail safe device is typically difficult and potentially costly.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,090,440 details a method for installing a fluid containment device under a reservoir which provided a simplified installation method, a fluid containment device and a two-part tool for installing the fluid containment device, e.g. according to the simplified installation method. In particular, the two part tool comprises a wedge component which can be inserted between a wall and a reservoir at the top end and a jack component which is used to lift the reservoir while the wedge component keeps the reservoir substantially vertical. While the reservoir is lifted, the fluid containment device could be slid under the reservoir. In the taught example, the fluid containment device was made up of a circular sheet of flexible yet water-impervious material and was provided with a tightening belt around the periphery for tightening against the hot water tank. This device being flexible, it did not provide strong resilience against deformity which could lead to leaks from within it. The tightening belt employed holes through which water could leak and also may be difficult to lift up to the desired position particularly where the area around the tank is not easily accessible. Installation could be difficult. Moreover the flexible nature of the device does not lend itself well to improvement such as drainage conduits.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,944,253 teaches a water proof sheet having three extending flaps that is slid underneath a water heater. The flaps are attached by tape or other means to the lower sides of the water heater. In this case, installation is even more difficult, and in the discussed embodiment the resulting device is taped to the tank.
There is a need in the art for an improved liquid containment device and method containing leakage from a liquid reservoir and method of installing a liquid containment device.